'You sound hysterical': Tom Nichols has been 'spazzing out' about Kyle Smith's NRO piece mocking him

Yesterday, National Review’s Kyle Smith had a little fun with “World Expert on All Things” Tom Nichols. Max Boot was very offended by that, but his righteous indignation was nothing compared to Nichols’.

There’s not much point in responding the piece about me by Regina George over at @NRO. (There are no surprises in it: my facial hair and insufferability are well-documented problems.) But the author takes a bafflling and mean swipe at @HarvardExt and the people who go there. /1

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

There’s not much point …

“There’s not much point in responding here’s a 12 tweet thread”?

— Chinaski (@Bukowski11976) September 3, 2019

Here it is:

In a piece decrying snobby elitism, it’s a weirdly elitist flex by a guy who went to Yale, and who is, at least lately, a film critic. So, on that, I will indeed comment. Note: I don’t speak for @HarvardExt, or any other institution. /2

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

I’ve taught at Extension for almost 15 years, and it’s been one of the most gratifying parts of a career that has included teaching and lecturing lots of great places. My students run from high school kids to grad students to older people who just want to learn stuff./3

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

I’m not sure why an @NRO writer thinks it’s bad that I, like so many other Boston-area faculty, would teach for one of the oldest extension programs in the world – one founded to extend the benefits of education to people outside of day colleges. (Affordably, too.) /4

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

The writer, to his credit, did some crackerjack fact-checking by consulting Wikipedia – no, really – but still, I’m here to help. We have degree programs, but many folks just register for classes.
We also have some certificate programs. Let me tell you about one. /5

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

A while back, I was approached by the U.S. Air Force to create an Extension certificate. The military needs more education on nuclear stuff – this was a blue-ribbon USG panel recommendation back in 2008 – and USAF chose Extension along with a few other places to do that. /6

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

I wrote a book on nukes and am also faculty in the new USAF School of Strategic Force studies, so it was a good fit. We created a program in less than a year for a Certificate in Nuclear Deterrence studies. We recruited more faculty to broaden its offerings, too. /7

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

We have a lot of folks from the military in it, but like other Extension programs, it's open to anyone who can pass the courses. (It’s unrelated to my day job with the Navy, oddly enough.) You can find more here, rather than Wikipedia:https://t.co/kA0Jw8yXrT
/8

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

I also teach courses (including at @HarvardSummer) on the future of war and Cold War pop culture. We might even return to doing a real-time nuclear crisis simulation in the future. That one, with a guest shot from one of my military friends, was…something. /9 pic.twitter.com/WjCbL8BOg2

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

Anyway, if you'd like to know what else I teach, you can go to the @HarvardExt website and search my name. (Courses are on campus, or distance, or by combined delivery. Lots of options.)
This fall, I'll be doing a course on nuclear weapons. https://t.co/3KhdU2C0Gk
/10

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

I get that the new @NRO is…well, what it is. But I'm mystified why an article on me included a strange swipe at people who work all day and then bust their asses to come meet me in class.
But speculating on that gets us into the realm both of psychology and bad editing. /11x

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 3, 2019

Smith made it pretty clear his swipe was aimed squarely at Nichols’ bizarre brand of conserving conservatism (and a teeny little bit at Max Boot’s).

"There's not much point in doing what I'm doing"

— "Fredo" is racist toward Italians who are dumb (@jtLOL) September 4, 2019

If Nichols thought he was taking Smith to school, he thought wrong. He only managed to give Smith more reasons to enjoy himself:

If Tom were an actual member of the Harvard community instead of an instructor at Harvard (Extension School) he'd know that the tradition of Harvard & Yale types mocking each other dates back to approx. 1701 & the proper response is to make a better joke, not clutch pearls. https://t.co/R15xkMv7Lg

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

Literally never in my life heard an actual Harvard type go, "U R SO MEAN REGINA" in response to a Harvard joke.

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

This piece is either funny or it ain't. If it's funny, it works. Whether it's "fair" or "mean" doesn't enter into the equation. https://t.co/Xh3wtrB3pH

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

By the way, OF COURSE I'm an elitist. Harvard was my safety school. As for Harvard (Extension School), I'd never heard of it till Saturday, when I looked it up and discovered it had a 0.18 percent graduation rate, which is HILARIOUS.

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

(If Snopes is watching…Harvard is not actually anybody's safety school. Harvard is notoriously difficult to get into. Except for Harvard Extension School, which lets in everybody.)

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

"But I was just joking, because I still don't understand what Harvard Extension, or any extension program, does, or why people would go to school after work. So I'll double down and insult the people who go there again." https://t.co/qxuCCbgWky

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 4, 2019

Humor, how does it work https://t.co/YTrz0LSITs

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

"No, really, I was just kidding! I know my editor probably should have stopped me, but no one gets the Harvard-Yale humor, which was my way of being *anti-elitist* because I'm being totally meta!" https://t.co/ouCMw0uic4

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 4, 2019

you sound hysterical, and I don't mean funny.

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

Everyone please share your stories of being blocked by @RadioFreeTom, they're hilarious.

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

So @RadioFreeTom has sent out more than 50 tweets spazzing out over this. Whatever could be upsetting him?https://t.co/Xh3wtrB3pH

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) September 4, 2019

That’s actually not an exaggeration. We’d post them here but we know you have day jobs. Suffice it to say, Tom’s done wonders to help prove Smith’s points about him.